‘A bridge, not an obstacle’: is Armenia a new crossroads between east and west. The Guardian

To describe Yerevan, a charming city of liberal values encased in imposing Soviet architecture, as the centre of the world is a stretch, but Armenia’s claim that it can become the strategic crossroads of the landmass of Eurasia is becoming less and less fanciful. As the former Soviet Republic goes to the polls on 7 June for national elections, it finds itself in a five-way tug of war between Russia, the US, Turkey, Europe and Azerbaijan.

The interest has in part been sparked by the possibility of an end to Armenia’s conflict with its neighbour Azerbaijan – and the chance this represents for Armenia to end its physical isolation and become part of the middle corridor, a vital trade route linking western China and Europe, bypassing both Russia’s northern corridor and the Suez canal.

The opening of its borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan could transform not just Armenia but the South Caucasus, Armenia’s prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, has claimed. Once these borders were open and peace secured, he said, it would be as if the geographical position of Armenia itself had changed. The shortest route between east and west, he said, goes through Armenia.

Ararat Mirzoyan, the foreign minister, said the government’s aim was to turn Armenia’s geography into a strategic asset. “The challenge after decades is how to become a bridge rather than an obstacle. So this is what we are now trying to do in Armenia. Somehow we have come to understand that we can connect Europe with Central Asia, with the far east, with India, China, and this, in turn, can not only be a way to save our existence, our sovereignty, but also guarantee our further peaceful prosperity.”

The so-called Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (Tripp) linking Europe and Asia and built across Armenian territory as part of a peace deal with Baku would only be one part of this new connectivity jigsaw.

This geopolitical vision – the heart of what Pashinyan is offering for his third consecutive term – is also in part about Armenia’s future identity. It turns the election into a decision on whether to back Pashinyan’s call to support what he calls Real Armenia, as opposed to a historical Armenia obsessed with lost lands and historical grievances.

The Real Armenia doctrine requires making a painful peace with neighbouring Azerbaijan, and a pivot away from Russia towards the EU – something Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party describes as a “more diversified foreign policy”. But it also involves controversy, such as sacking the director of the Armenian genocide museum for giving JD Vance a book on Azerbaijan massacres, or removing from Armenia’s passport stamps the image of Mount Ararat, a national symbol although it lies within present-day Turkey.